Brisbane’s Airtrain pushing up commute costs for airport workers to $100 a week

The powerful United Workers’ Union is calling on the state government to renegotiate its Airtrain contract, alleging workers are forced to pay up to $100 a week in commuting costs.

• Holiday hordes: Airport’s busiest day

The union of Queensland Labor’s top powerbroker has called on the state government to re-evaluate its Airtrain contract, saying Brisbane Airport workers are paying up to $100 a week to commute due to limited transport options.

It comes after The Courier-Mail recently revealed the long-term contract would not be renegotiated for the 2032 Olympics, making the Airtrain the only mass-transit option during the Games.

The United Workers’ Union, headed by Gary Bullock, said thousands of its members working in the sprawling airport precinct were already being unfairly squeezed on transport costs daily because of lack of transport options.

UWU co-ordinator Damien Davie said Airtrain’s monopoly had to change if the state was serious about reducing congestion on the south east’s roads.

Many workers had been forced to drive to work as the cheapest option but with rising household costs many more were now trying to get to a rail link to catch the Airtrain to get inside the airport.

“It’s really bizarre that we have a private company making profits off the back of what should be a public service,’’ Mr Davie said.

Airport cleaner Jason Lang said he spent around $100 a week getting in and out of his workplace.

“Airport workers deserve the option of affordable and convenient public transport to get to their place of work at Brisbane Airport,’’ Mr Lang said.

The operators of Brisbane’s Airtrain have an exclusive 35-year deal.

The Airtrain contract dates back three decades to the then Borbidge LNP government, but was acquired in 2013 by a subsidiary of Britain’s second largest pension scheme, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited, in what was believed to be a deal worth more than $100 million.

State Transport Minister Mark Bailey confirmed last week negotiations to cut short the 35-year contract, which prohibits public buses being run to either the domestic or international terminal, had broken down.

It is believed the government was forced to walk away from negotiations because the cost of altering or terminating the Airtrain contract was considered too high for the Queensland taxpayer

Brisbane City Council is believed to be promoting a range of possible scenarios to address what is essentially a transport black hole across the entire airport precinct.

The council believes the Brisbane Airport, which Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner yesterday morning described at a Brisbane BNE Enterprise Industry breakfast as the second most important precinct in the state capital behind the city centre, clearly needed a range of transport links including buses.

Senior figures within the council say one possibility would be to allow council buses to access the airport precinct itself, if not the actual airport terminals, allowing the thousands of people who work there access to cheaper public transport.

In such an arrangement, compensation arrangements could potentially be made to Airtrain’s for what would be more modest revenue losses.

Queensland Labor powerbroker Gary Bullock

Originally published as Brisbane’s Airtrain pushing up commute costs for airport workers to $100 a week